¶ E-Drive Safety
E-Drive works together with a bank of 48V batteries that contain a large amount of energy. Voltage at 48V is not considered dangerous to humans, however if the positive and negative terminals of the 48V batteries are shorted or touched together with a wire, the resulting inrush of power can instantly melt the wire coating and even the wire itself! Very thick wires can become extremely hot very quickly and may cause a fire.
Consider the E-Drive system shown below. Diagram A on the left shows the E-Drive motor connected with three red cables to the motor controller which is in turn connected with a single red cable to the batteries. During normal operation, power safely travels back and forth between the motor, the motor controller and the batteries.
Notice the black cable connection between the engine chassis and the 48V negative? This connection is typically used to mitigate the effects of galvanic corrosion. Notice also the safety fuse in series with the connection? The safety fuse must be installed when E-Drive is fitted to the boat!
Now consider the situation in Diagram B, a misplaced wrench is accidentally shorting one of the motor cable connectors to the engine chassis. If the safety fuse was not present to break the short circuit, large amounts of energy from the 48V batteries would travel through the cables making them very hot and creating the potential to cause a fire.
WARNING
All connections between the engine chassis and 48V battery negative must be fused
¶ Emergency Override Procedure
Should the E-Drive or battery system fail for any reason, use the following procedure to immediately switch to using the engines for propulsion:
- Hit the E-Drive Emergency STOP button (located next to the helm).
- Move the throttle(s) to neutral.
- Start the engine(s).
- Use the throttle and engines to move the boat away from danger.
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